And so, we start the fourth arc. Though I can't promise that it will be long or good (it's hard to put this game into a real story for me), I hope it will be enjoyable to you... and at least the end of this arc is very important...
But yeah, though I make this the start of arc 4, we won't start with the incident right now, though it is at hand. I felt like writing a thing that popped into my head when I wrote the Extra Chapter of the Imperishable Night arc... Don't worry, it is just a two-chapter delay, as in the third chapter of this arc, the incident will start.
Yeah. So bear with me and my ideas, and I hope you enjoy the chapter...
which we now start, shall we?
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Touhou, Team Shanghai Alice / ZUN does. Chôzen Gekido, Ryoko Jigoku and Nanatsu no Taizai belong to me.
Arc 4: Phantasmagoria of Flower View
Chapter 1: Another time manipulator
The man stopped. Around him... was nothing. He stood in the middle of a path in Japan. It was a old, dusty path, in front of him stairs leading to an old, run-down shrine. The Hakurei Shrine. Despite it being unused since a decade, the shrine wasn´t a ruin. It was perfectly in shape. It was as if someone was making sure that it wouldn't break apart... This shrine was his first goal. The so called "gateway".
He began to ascend the stairs made of stone. Reaching the shrine, which was at least two centuries old, he looked left, then right. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he walked up to the shrine and glanced inside the room through a ajar door. The inside was dusty and it certainly looked like no one had been inside for a long time, so he didn't even care about exploring the insides further. They were not of interest for him...
As he left the door behind, he walked over to the donation box, which, like most of the outside, was in perfect shape. Pulling out a purple coin with a red eye on it, his red ones fixed on it. "I've got this invitation long ago... Let's see if it is still accepted by her...", he muttered, positioned his hand over the donation box... and let go of it.
The box let out a wooden sound as the coin hit the wooden grid on top of the donation box, then it fell inside the box through one of the slits. He remained silent as he waited for the sound of the coin hitting the ground of the box... but there was no noise.
Instead, the coin suddenly shot out of the donation box, and the man extended his hand and catched it. Opening his hand, he stared at the palm in his hand, only to let out a sigh. The coin was now hot to the touch, and the eye on it was glaring at him. "Clearly not...", he sighed, then turned around on his heel. "But if she doesn't let me in...", the corner of his lips turned up into an arrogant smile, "...I force my way in!"
Putting the coin back into his pocket, he rolled his shoulders thrice, and then walked down the stairs again, until he stood on the path again, between two stone pillars. Then, he crossed his arms in front of his body, then suddenly leaned back, holding his hands like claws, exclaiming the name of a Major Arcana Tarot Card.
A leaf, falling from a tree bend to his will, and stopped in midair. The man leaned forwards, grinning to himself as he saw it in front of him. His timing had been perfect. The barrier protecting the land he wanted to enter had a small weakness... a weaker spot, which was constantly moving and impossible to reach... under normal circumstances.
The man walked towards the weak spot in the barrier, which was usually invisible and impossible to enter, as when somebody touched the normal barrier and not the weak spot, he was walking through the land without entering it... it was located in another dimension, more or less, parallel to the world as it was. The man extended his right hand to touch the barrier... and watched pleased how he could walk right through it.
The same moment, a certain sukimas eyes snapped open, red lines in them as if she hadn´t taken enough sleep, and a look of horror was on her face as if she just had a really bad nightmare.
Ran Yakumo flinched when she heard a loud crash from her mistress' room, and only two seconds later, the door crashed open and Yukari Yakumo, dressed in only her panties and a violet see-through nightgown, ran up to Ran. "Lady Yukari?", asked Ran in a very confused way. "Someone was able to enter Gensokyo through the barrier! He managed the impossible, he managed to walk through the weakness, and he did it on purpose!", exclaimed Yukari, shock written all over her face.
Ran watched Yukari unbelievingly. "That is even possible? The weakness the barrier had was minor, nothing, not even beyond mach 100 could go hit the weakness exactly the split nanosecond that it would be in front of him!", gasped Ran. Yukari hissed, her face distorting into anger.
"...and that despite I had denied him the entrance to Gensokyo... Long ago, I gave him an invitation, but he turned it down, saying that the endless power he wanted to archieve was not found in this world... I don´t know the mans goal... And there is only one who can find out... only one person is fitting for this job...!", hissed Yukari.
Somewhere else, in a house near the path leading to the human village, Chôzen Gekido was swallowed by a gap in his sleep.
"I cannot believe her!", I screamed in extreme displeasure. I just woke up in the middle of the forest, my clothes neatly folded next to me, otherwise I was just wearing the same underwear I had when I went to sleep yesterday night after Yukari send me home. So I had dressed, and here I was now. It is early in the morning and it is freezing shitty cold and I don´t know what the fuck I have to do and why the shit I am here! "YUKARI YAKUMO, I`M GONNA KILL YOU!", I shouted into the air.
"Oi oi, you over there." I flinched and turned around. In front of me stood a man of middle age. He had blonde hair and red eyes. He wore a suit of yellow color and he wore a black tank-top underneath. He also had a yellow-green colored heart-shaped hairband and rings for his cuffs, as well as yellow-green heart-shaped knee guards.
"Me?", I asked. "Yeah, you. I am in Gensokyo, right?", he asked, staring at me with his arrogant eyes. I narrowed my eyes. This guy was more than suspicious... he emitted an aura of evil... And yet, though he seemed dangerous... I somehow couldn't believe him to be evil. Though everything spoke for it. "Uh... yeah.", I replied. The man nodded.
"Do you know someone named 'Sakuya'?" "Sakuya? Sure. I know her pretty well." The man nodded yet again. "Where can I find her?" I scratched the back of my head. "The Scarlet Devil Mansion, I suppose." "Scarlet Devil Mansion, you say?", asked the man. I nodded. "Sure. Ya know where that is?" "No."
"Not? Well, I suppose I could guide you there. I was heading for that direction.", I suggested. "Because Mayohiga, the gateway to Yukaris house, is close to there...!" Man, was I glad that my thoughts were finally unaudible anymore! The man seemed to think about it for a second. "Alright.", he spoke, though his arrogant eyes remained on me... telling me that he possibly put me into the same drawer I had put him in... the one labelled as 'caution'. I nodded, then turned to the direction I knew the SDM to be, my last glance back only to confirm that he was indeed following me.
After a while of silence, I eventually got interested. "So... what´s your name, anyways?", I asked. The man glanced over at me. "Dio.", he replied casually. His arrogant eyes are giving me the creeps, by the way... "I´m Chôzen Gekido, Insei no Youkai." This time, the man actually turned to me.
"So you´re a youkai? Guessed you were a human." I sighed. "Yeah. Here in Gensokyo, most youkai look rather humanic, so it´s hard to tell them apart. But I guess once you´re used to it, it is pretty simple.", I spoke. Dio nodded.
"I heard that most beings here have special abilities?", asked Dio. I chuckled. "New to Gensokyo, huh?", I asked as we walked over a bridge. "Just got here this morning.", he replied. "Ah... well, yes, every youkai has a special ability, and some humans have as well. A shrine maiden I know can fly and call onto the gods." "Yeah? What other abilities do Youkai here have?" I thought about it a second.
"I know the manipulation of fate, immense destructive power, the manipulation of cold, the manipulation of fire, immortality, manipulation of eternity and the moment, Manipulation of Reincarnation, Manipulation of Boundaries, Manipulation of Death, Manipulation of Darkness... Manipulation of Sins... Negation of Everything... to name a few.", I counted. The man aside me frowned. "I see. Anyone got the manipulation of time?", asked Dio. "Funny that you ask! Sakuya can manipulate time~!", I chuckled. And the man began to grin. "So she really has that ability? I had only heard of it."
"Chôôôôô~!" Dio and I frowned, and as I turned around and looked into heaven, I was immeadiatly tackled and buried beneath a blondehaired woman in a black dress. "Hehehe.", I heard Rumia snicker as she laid on top of me, looking down. "Rumia.", I said somewhat casually, yet a little embarrassed. Dio frowned at us.
Just that moment, another person landed aside us, and I remembered her to be the vampire I saw with Rumia in the pub. Rumia stood up and helped me up as well. "Well, Chôzen, may I introduce you to Kurumi? She´s an old friend of mine.", smiled Rumia, nodding to the vampire. Kurumi nodded towards me.
"I saw her back when you were in the pub.", I spoke. "Yeah, we saw ya there. You really had a charisma break... Should´ve seen how you and Meiling swayed out of the bar, her arm around your neck. I think you sung something about Shanghai and a 17.", snickered Rumia. I sweatdropped.
"Friends of yours?", asked Dio, reminding me of his presence. "Uh... Rumia here yes, but the other I didn´t knew until now.", I snickered uneasily. Dio nodded. "My name is Dio.", he told the girls and bowed. Kurumi and Rumia nodded. "So... what´s up, Rumia?", I asked, but Rumia just giggled.
"What? A girl can´t greet a very special friend when she sees him passing by?", she asked. I chuckled uneasily. "Of course you can. Just thought something happened." Rumia shook her head. "Nah. Not until yet. But the next incident comes surely." I laughed at that.
"It always does." Kurumi nodded in agreement. Rumia turned to her, they shared a glance, then Rumia turned back to me. "Well, Chô, I guess I see you around? We´re heading for the lake of blood, where Kurumi lives, and we´re somewhat running late, so we don´t have time. But I´ll drop by when I´m free, alright?", she asked. I sighed, hoping that Rumia and Nanatsu wouldn´t make another competition.
"Yeah. See ya then, I suppose." Rumia smiled, then she turned away, waving, taking off with Kurumi in tow. "Ya like that girl? That Rumia girl?", asked Dio. "A little.", I chuckled, lying, of course. I was head over heels for Rumia... But I was as well for Nanatsu. With a sigh, I turned back to the direction of the SDM. "It´s complicated. I´ll tell ya another time." Dio nodded. With that, we continued our walk. In silence.
A while later, our walk was interupted yet again, however. It was a certain witch running out of the tree line onto the clearing we were passing. "Yare yare, da ze!" As the shout became audible, Dio flinched and looked around panically. "Something wrong?", I asked Dio. "D-Didn´t you hear that?", asked Dio.
I rose an eyebrow, then pointed to Marisa, who was leaning forwards, panting like mad. "Alice has gone bonkers, ze!", shouted Marisa at me. I frowned. "What did ya do?", I asked. "Broke a... doll... on accident, da ze!", she panted, to which I of course chuckled. But Dio seemed uncomfortable around her for some reason... "Yare yare, da ze...", sighed Marisa.
"Anyways, Chôzen, who's ya friend?", asked Marisa, nodding to Dio. "Dio.", I replied. "He´s on the search for Sakuya.", I explained. "So you go the SDM, huh? I´m gonna go and get some books as long as it´s daytime. Ya know, at night, Kayako spooks around." Marisa shivered. She still hadn´t gotten over the horror night in which Kayako shocked her over and over again.
"W-What´s with your quote?", asked Dio. Marisa frowned. "You mean 'da ze'?", asked Marisa with a raised eyebrow. "I don´t know... Mima-sama has used it several times... so I adopted it.", muttered Marisa. Dio shuddered.
"You know someone named Joestar?", asked Dio, caution obvious in his voice. Marisa frowned, seemingly pondering. "No.. never heard of one called Joestar." Dio sighed in relief, making me and Marisa frown. "Well, anyways, I gotta flee a little more. Then borrow a tea at Reimus." With that, Marisa jumped onto her broom, and rushed off into the sky. Dio watched after her, looking rather serious, yet frightened.
"I hope I won't ever run into one of those pesky Joestars again... not after I have just being revived...!"
It was past midday when the gates to the SDM finally came into view. I picked up speed, Dio following me on the heels. Only a few minutes later, I stood in front of the gate, looking around for the redheaded gatekeeper. "Meiling? Oi, Meiling, are you here somewhere?", I shouted. Dio, who stood behind me, kept silent as we waited.
It took Meiling a moment, but then she emerged from a flower bed. "Hm? Oh, it´s you, Chôzen!", smiled Meiling. I almost had forgotten that she was the gardeneer as well as the gatekeeper! Silly me~ "Can you let us in? We´re searching for Sakuya.", I asked. "Sure, give me a second..." Meiling hastily came over, then pushed the large gates open with one hand. At that, Dio seemed amazed.
"Is she a Youkai as well? That gate looks way to heavy for one to open it with bare hands.", he commented. Meiling smiled. "Yup! I´m a youkai!", she exclaimed proudly. "Thank you, Meiling.", I smiled at the gatkeeper, who gave me a sheepish thumbs up. "Sure, no prob. Sakuya should be inside." I nodded, and continued my way up the path.
"Man, I´m somewhat tired... Lately there have been many people passing... Yare yare, da ze...", exclaimed Meiling. Before I knew, Dio had rushed past me and was inside the mansion. It seemed that the quote seemed to scare him to death... I wonder why? Well, anyways, I caught up to him as he stood in the middle of the entrance hall. He was looking around as I walked up to him.
"Hm... that´s a nice mansion. So, how do we find Sakuya?", he asked. "Ah, that´s not the problem. You don´t find Sakuya, Sakuya finds one, especially if you´re an intruder." , I chuckled. And as if on cue, I felt the world stop for "a second".
Looking up to the top of the stairs, I saw the always elegant and perfect maid. "Welcome to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Mister Gekido. Milady will be hap..." Sakuya trailed off as she laid eyes onto the blonde man next to me.
Seeing her dumb expression, Dio began to laugh. "I-is that possible?", gasped Sakuya, taking a step back. "It is.", grinned Dio and took a pose I had only seen from Sakuya, namingly crossing the arms in front of the chest and leaning a bit back. "Hello, daughter." Wait what?
Yep, that's it for this chapter. And yeah...cliffhanger. Second part MIGHT follow this evening.
Anyways, I'm sorry for Dio being so out of character... though I am a huge fan of Jojos Bizarre Adventure, I never managed to get a hand on a game or manga of the series, and the only anime episode I ever managed to find was the final fight vs. Dio, and that doesn't give me enough information to properly understand his personality. Hope you like the way he is written, though, I gathered as much information about him as I could find...
And yeah, Dio is Sakuyas father (I really like that theory, I admit it finally) and came to visit his daughter... but for what reason? And what is in for Chôzen next chapter? I have one heck of a surprise for you, dear readers... The next chapter is almost done, should be up soon. And I also already started working on the prequel, which will be up at the end of this arc.
Yeah. True fans of Jojo's bizarre adventure should know why I made the resurrected Dio fear the quote "Yare Yare, Da ze." Thought it would be fun to put this in.
Well, that should wrap this up. Hope you leave a review and you'll read the next chapter as well. See ya!